Performance (40% of the final score) - while I do have some mixed feelings for all those PowerCache™ capacitors being crammed onto the cables, I'm not sure I can let those feelings interfere much with the score in this section. This unit turned out to be a fantastic performer when all facets are considered, what with the efficiency getting close to passing 80 Plus Gold and that whole power on spike suppression thing being way better than average. But, I can't quite hand out a perfect score either, despite the stellar ripple suppression I saw when using the intended PowerCache™ cables. The fact remains that this unit needed help on the external cabling to get ripple suppression this good, and I'm going go ahead and pull a point for that. 9.

Functionality (20% of the final score) - this is going to be a tricky one. On one hand, this unit has more than enough cabling for everything up to and including four video cards. But on the other hand, an awful lot of them are hardwired, aren't sleeved all the way into the case, and you have those big PowerCache™ capacitor houses on most of them making them hard to hide away should you have more cables than you need. I'm going to have to go with a 6.5 on this one.

Value (30% of the final score) - Provantage is currently offering these for $218.06, with eWiz/SuperBiiz currently offering them on sale for a bit less than that. This makes the unit competitive with many units around this size, like the BFG EX-1200. It's not the cheapest, and not the most expensive unit of this size at either location. So, I'm going to give the unit a 9.5 here.

Aesthetics (10% of the final score) - I love matte black, and I don't care who knows it. What I don't particularly go nuts over is the racing stripes on the top and bottom of this unit, but I have to admit it does help the unit stand out from the crowd. But for me, I'll have to do an 8 on this one.

Performance

9

Functionality

6.5

Value

9.5

Aesthetics

8

Total Score

8.5

Summary

The Truepower Quattro does a whole lot of things right. It's fantastically efficient, it's very stable, and it has excellent ripple and noise suppression. But it also falls short in a few ways as well, mostly when it comes to the PowerCache™ cabling. The capacitors add bulk to the cables, there are too many of them hardwired to the unit, and you cannot remove the extra capacitors to gain more streamlined cables - the unit needs those capacitors to function as well as it does. All of this adds up to a very good unit, but not quite an excellent one.